March from Darkness | ✓ (to be edited)

TWENTY-ONE

DEMITRI

He was real.

He was here.

He was in a vessel.

But... how?

"I hope I didn't disturb you, Demi," he said slowly, pushing himself off the desk and striding towards me almost shakily like he wasn't steady on his feet. "It's been a while since I've had a real physical form that I haven't shared with someone."

I felt the knife that was still in my hand drop as I walked, almost in a daze-like state, towards him. He watched me as I brought my arms around him and hugged him to me. He hugged me in turn and rubbed my back as I fought back the emotion that wanted to spill out.

This being had been with me through hell and was still willing to help me. Granted, whether he wanted to do so or not was debatable, but he still did it regardless. He had been my protector for many years, probably more than I would ever be able to recall, and I finally got to hug him as a person that was not simply a solid image that could fade away. He was finally real, tangible in a physical sense of the word rather than a simple mental apparition.

"How... why are you here?"

He pulled away and smiled at me, flashing his prominent eyeteeth as he gently brought his lips to my forehead. "I'm glad that I finally get to see you again as an actual separate vessel," he said, hugging me tighter.

Someone cleared their throat behind us, and we turned to see Phrer, Docri, Marshall, and now Talia standing near the stairs. Talia's head was cocked slightly to the side, eyes narrowed, studying the Entity who was now in front of me, almost in a protective, defensive stance. Talia's electric blue eyes widened slightly as they flashed a shade of pale violet, her lips curling back into a snarl and her vocal cords emitting a dangerous growl, her now-prominent fangs resembling those of a snake.

"Talia..." Phrer warned, his hand on her shoulder. She turned her furious gaze towards him and they stared at each other for a couple seconds. Talia then turned back to us; while her face was stoic and cold, that could not hide the burning hatred in her eyes. She hissed once more at the Entity, her pupils thinning into vertical slits before she vanished, leaving behind a puff of deep-red smoke that resembled her hair.

Phrer sighed slightly before he directed his gaze to the Entity. "I apologise for my aide's behaviour," he voiced, his tone disconnected, severely cold. "Welcome to my home."

The Entity nodded, a smile returning to his face. "It's not a problem, Phreryan. I assure you, there have been worse introductions."

Phrer simply smiled, although I could tell it was forced.

What the hell is going on?

I tried to figure out how to address this current situation, but my mind was drawing a blank. Social interactions had never really been my forte, at least not without alcohol, but I felt as though I had to say something. Instead, Docri broke the tense silence that followed that statement by placing his hands on his hips and saying, "Well, at least now I know it wasn't Demitri being an ass to me."

The Entity looked a bit sheepish at that, but he didn't apologise or look guilty about it, which I found a bit strange.

"At any rate," Phrer continued, "we would enjoy having you for dinner while a room is set up for you."

"It would be my pleasure," the Entity responded as he and the fae followed Phrer up the stairs to the third floor. I, on the other hand, fell behind, pondering something that began to bother me a bit.

If he was here, then why could I still feel him in my head?

PHRER

Something didn't feel right about this. I had hoped I was simply being paranoid, but something was most definitely wrong. This entity's demeanour was off as if their smile was stretched a bit too wide over his face to be genuine and more like an attempt to reiterate the fact that his fangs never went away.